Monday, September 07, 2009

Labor Day for a lot of people brings to mind a trip to the beach, or maybe the lake. For others, Labor Day means it's time to head to The Playa to burn the man.

But for us, Labor Day makes us think of something like this:Too many people and cops out on the road! So we usually stay home and take advantage of the local peace and solitude, watch some college football, and grill out on the patio. (And we certainly didn't take the photo above)

This year, however, a new plan emerged. A 2-hour drive through the countryside and up the Natchez Trace took us to your not-so-typical Labor Day desitination: Florence, Alabama.

More specifically, our destination was the Marriott Shoals Hotel & Spa, where we spent a 2-night getaway with Carley's parents. And yes, we did get to eat dinner one night in the restaurant on top of that tower. (Alabama's only revolving restaurant!)

From our room we had a great view of the Wilson Dam spanning the Tennessee River.

However, this place was all about the pool, which was a kid's paradise!

Rowan was totally fired up about the water slide, even though he's not big enough to ride alone.

Again...

...and again...

...and again!

Every once in a while he'd insist on taking a dip in "Papa's bath".

When the pool got old, there was always the playground at nearby River Heritage Park.

But even the playground couldn't hold Rowan's attention for long, with the huge choreographed interactive music-fountain blasting out some classic rock-and-roll and Motown.

Twist and shout!

This turned out to be fun for all of us!

With this kind of entertainment for Rowan, plus the fact that it was the opening weekend of college football, there wasn't much motivation on our part to get out and see Florence. Rob never even left sight of the hotel, while Carley went out once for some shopping with her mom.

New Blogger Layout

Unfortunately the "Blog Archive" feature (above) on Blogger's new layout is totally lame. If you miss the sidebar navigation system we used to have on this blog, go here to see the new and improved version.